My son was diagnosed with autism about 8 years ago at age 3. Ever since then, my wife and I have looked at all options to help him become the best version of himself possible. In addition to traditional therapies, we look at autism through a holistic lens. One of our newest protocols for autism treatment is using the Ion Cleanse for detox. Diet is a huge focus for our family, but we also have a major emphasis on detoxification. The Ion Cleanse is a tool that stimulates detoxification in a safe, gentle way.

Learning About the Ion Cleanse For Detox In Autism

Before I tell you about the Ion Cleanse, I’d like to first talk about why we need to focus on detox for my son. We work very closely with his doctor in this area. Lab testing has shown us that our son has a pretty big toxic load. His blood & hair revealed fairly high amount of heavy metals like lead & mercury in addition to other such as barium. These toxins clearly affect the body’s ability to function optimally, so we need to get rid of them.

In the past, we’ve tried traditional ways of detoxification through chelation and other detox supplements. These methods turned out to be too harsh for my son’s fragile system to handle. Again, we work closely with his doctor every step of the way, so we’re able to make sure he stays safe. Luckily, the Ion Cleanse system sort of fell right in our laps.

The Ion Cleanse for Detox: What is It?

“The IonCleanse by AMD is a unique total body detox that uses biocompatible electrical frequencies with the healing power of ions – the same kind of beneficial ions that make you feel so wonderful walking along the beach or near a waterfall. The IonCleanse by AMD is the safest and most effective way to cleanse and purify the body.”

Still Confused on What it Is?

Simply put, the Ion Cleanse is a really fancy footbath that sends a specific electrical frequency through the water to stimulate detoxification. It uses the electrolysis of water to create both positively and negatively charged ions. Opposites attract, so the negatively charged ions will attract and neutralize positively charged toxins in the body. Positively charged ions will attract and neutralize negatively charged toxins. According to AMD, “neutralized particles will be pulled from the body through osmosis. The toxins will be harmlessly pulled from the cells and will come out in the water through the feet.”

SAY WHAT!?!

I know this sounds a little “woowoo”. I still can’t get my brain wrapped around that last part either. The idea that toxins come out of our cells and get pulled through the pores in our feet just seems too out there for even me. However, the company has published test results revealing different toxins in the water after a footbath. Additionally, everyone’s water seems to look different. 3 people can do a footbath using the same water, and the resulting water will look different for all 3. Nevertheless, I still can’t really get my brain wrapped around it, which means I personally have trouble believing toxins come out through our feet.

I believe that the Ion Cleanse is a valuable tool for autism treatment and detoxification support. However, to be honest, we have not seen major changes just yet. We’ve had minimal improvements in ATEC scores, handwriting, and language. However, we have observed improvements in behavior. He appears to be calmer, more aware, and his anxiety is lower too. While there’s not really a scientific measure for this, our opinion is that he is mentally more stable.

Other Observations:

Shortly after we started using the Ion Cleanse for autism, my son began doing an odd thing with his arms. For the first month or so, he would rub the inner part of his elbow repeatedly for a minute or so. This happened at least once an hour. It was so often that the inside of his elbows & forearms had a rash or red mark on it from the rubbing. Also, he began flicking his arms out. It almost looked like he was trying to pop his elbow if that makes sense.

My guess is the inside of his arm happens to be the place where he has some toxins stored in his body and they are now mobilized which may be causing pain, itching, or some other type of sensation that we just cannot determine because he can’t tell us how it feels. However, that is simply a guess. This behavior actually started more aggressively with biting of his arm, which transitioned to scratching. Luckily, the uncomfortable part seems to be gone, but it is still something we keep an eye on.

Today, now 6 months later, it doesn’t seem to bother him anymore, but we do notice redness coming and going on his elbows. Specifically, during his footbath, both elbows turn red while his feet are in the water. I should mention that this is an atypical detox reaction even for the Ion Cleanse. I’ve asked around in an Ion Cleanse Facebook group and no one else has seen this. Most see traditional symptoms & detox reactions, but no on saw it specifically localized on the elbows.

Ion Cleanse for Detox: Challenges (TMI Warning)

Get The Poo OUT!!!

I think one of the reasons we are not seeing big changes is because my son is not moving his bowels regularly enough. If he is not pooping regularly, then the body can reabsorb any toxins that were mobilized by the Ion Cleanse. He needs to be using the bathroom everyday to get that nastiness out! Many kids on the spectrum struggle with GI issues. Our son has struggled for years with constipation. It has gotten markedly better, but it is not good enough to facilitate a healthy detox process. We have to continue to pay extra attention to this mode of elimination.

We Remain Hopeful

I dismissed the Ion Cleanse for years. Honestly, had we not won Generation Rescue’s 12 Days of Giveaways contest, I’d probably still be dismissing it as a potential treatment. However, after 6 months of use, I am a believer in the Ion Cleanse.

Despite no major improvements during our first 6 months using the Ion Cleanse for Detox, I remain hopeful. I’m confident that the Ion Cleanse is doing something positive for my son. I believe that is it mobilizing stuck toxins in his body and hopefully it is reactivating the detox pathways that were turned off. I have observed enough to warrant continued use of the Ion Cleanse for the foreseeable future. I believe it is helping. We’ll figure out the best way to support his body and help him detoxify more efficiently moving forward.

Luckily, using the Ion Cleanse for detox has not led to any of the negative reactions or regressions we experienced when trying other detoxification methods. He remains at what we call, his “baseline”. With the exception of a hard couple weeks brought on by allergies, he has remained a calmer, less anxious, and overall happier little boy.

Additionally, he has been initiating play more often, which has been awesome. Just a few minutes ago, he asked me to come play with him in our pool. When I say he asked me, I mean in his own special way.

Playtime

“Water, water,” he said to his Mom. Then, he looks at me and says, “Dad-Dad-Dad”. I didn’t realize it in the moment, but he was trying to ask me to go swimming with him. I went out about 10 minutes later, and it made him so happy. Grinning from ear to ear, he ran over and started splashing me. I grabbed him tickled him and we wrestled around a bit. Each time I stopped, he’d take my arms and put them back on him and say “play, play, play”. How could I say no when he was doing such a great job asking? We ended up playing for almost an hour in our tiny, little blow up pool. I look forward to more great moments like these, and I am hopeful that the Ion Cleanse will facilitate even more joy.

A post shared by I'm Simply a Dad (@imsimplyadad) on Apr 10, 2017 at 9:19am PDT

Hi. My name is Dave, and I’M SIMPLY A DAD. Everyday, I focus on raising my kids to have a healthy attitude towards food and life. I teach them the power of real food, and the dangers of pretty packaged foods. But, it wasn’t always like this. I struggled with poor health for decades, but my oldest son’s autism diagnosis started me down an alternative path. It was a path that taught me how to better care for him & his siblings. Not only that, it was a path that showed me how to better care for myself and appreciate the important things in life. Now, I want to teach my fellow parents the tricks I have learned to get my kids eating veggies at every meal. On my blog, I share practical, everyday advice and inspiration that you can use to improve the health and happiness of your own family. I’M SIMPLY A DAD on mission to make the road to better health & healing easier for all families.

“I don’t think he needs medication. I think he needs a break….Maybe a Montessori school?”

And that’s how our homeschooling journey changed. I now have one at a Montessori school and one in homeschool.

Last fall began the roughest 3-4 months we’ve had in a long time. My older son’s anxiety kept increasing and increasing. He seemed to develop misophonia, a condition related to anxiety in which a person cannot handle certain sounds, sometimes to the point of physical aggression. So, in addition to shutting down and not talking because of his anxiety, his brother became a trigger.

My boys are opposites in many ways. My Aspie prefers quiet for the most part. He’s not one for singing. My younger son, on the other hand, is a mover and a shaker…a hummer…a drummer and a tapper…he needs movement, he needs humming. When you have this combination in a two-bedroom apartment, life can be tricky for any parent. Add in anxiety and little brother being a trigger, and well, we got to the point where neither of my boys could be themselves.

We lived in an almost-constant state of alert and stress. My older son shushing and yelling at his younger brother to stop humming, singing, tapping, etc. My younger son began to be defensive, understandably so. The triggers eventually went from being just auditory to also visual. If big brother saw younger brother flapping a pencil or bouncing his hand without noise, he’d still ask, “Please stop. PLEASE stop. PLEASE STOP! STOPPPPPPP!!!”

I can’t even express the pain all three of us lived in day to day and then my husband when he’d come home. I started asking people to take my son off for play dates so he could have a break from being yelled at. The stress level immediately decreased to almost zero as soon as he left. But how can you live like that, with each child feeling assaulted sensorily or verbally?

My younger son became overwhelmed and sullen. Depressed, even. He couldn’t focus on school work. His life stunk.

So, I took him to the pediatrician for an ADHD evaluation because of some things he was saying and doing. The pediatrician already knew we were waiting to get my older son into a new autism clinic. She listened to me, she listened to my boys. She was so kind. I cried in her office and told her, “At least my child isn’t in the hospital. I’m not calling the police on my son.”

She replied, “Just because you can be grateful doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.” And boy, is she right. But that’s another day, another article.

And so, we come back to “What about a Montessori school?” And that is where my younger son is today.

I was both excited for him at the prospect and nervous. He’d never been in an institutional school. I knew he’d love the special classes like music and gym, I knew he’d like making friends. Had I taught him enough?

It’s been a challenging transition for him. Socializing–no problem. He had friends right away, thanks in part to a great teacher. It’s the workload that’s the tough adjustment. The first seven days were rough and I wondered if this would work. Then I met with his teacher to get clarity on expectations. And she said he needed to remember he’s learning a new system and time management. So I was able to encourage him with her there, and I hope it helped.

This week his spirits improved, though it’s still a lot of work for him. We’ll see how it goes. If nothing else, finishing the school year at the Montessori will give us time to get his brother’s anxiety under control, Lord willing.

I know this isn’t the most eloquent storytelling out there. My hope is that by reading my story, those of you struggling with your doubts, your fears, your daily survival, will know that you’re not alone. There is someone else out there who has cried out for her children, who has lived in survival mode much longer than she’d care to, who can’t handle much of anything else. Remind yourself, as I do…God is Bigger and he loves your child more than you do. May you see this article as a cyber hug from me to you.

What challenge are YOU facing these days? Tell me in the comments below.

Years ago I had an all-out event on my blog for Autism Awareness Month. I created a list of categories for daily posts. Guest posts filled the calendar and had goodies as well. Let me tell you, that was one busy month!

This year I wore blue because a Facebook friend asked people to wear blue and take a picture for her to show her son. Guess what? I forgot to take a picture!

You see, for about a year my son has progressively gone down hill. In August I called a local autism center at the recommendation of a friend. I cried on the phone to the receptionist (Does anyone else do that?). That’s how desperate I was, and it wasn’t even at its worst point yet!

I’ve been living in survival mode for a long time. When you’re in survival mode, you don’t really care about wearing a certain color shirt. You just care that you have clean laundry.

When you’re in survival mode, you can’t think of things to spread awareness. You just want someone to notice that you’ve been missing.

When you feel like a good day is a day that no one is physically harmed, you’re not planning ahead for walks or runs or bake sales. You’re stuffing chocolate chips in your mouth between referee sessions and crying in the bathroom.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who’s been living in survival mode. Let me say two things.

If you’re wondering where your special needs mom friend has been, ask her. She may not be a great friend right now. Don’t take it personally that you haven’t heard from her. She may be hanging on by her fingernails.

If you’ve got the energy to spread awareness and lobby for acceptance, no matter the diagnosis, and you’re decorating yourself and your home, fabulous! But please, don’t look down at other special needs moms who are just too tired for that this year. Why not give them a hug instead, tell them you’ll do their share of awareness this year.

What stage are you? Are you in survival mode like me or soap box sassy or somewhere in between?

*We have started the process at the clinic and it looks like my son has PANDAS. If your child’s symptoms are getting progressively worse, they are changing into a different person, they are becoming violent or self harming, if psych meds make them worse, you may want to look for more information on PANDAS. Start with Pandas Network. You may also want to grab a copy of Childhood Interrupted by Beth Alison Maloney.

I’ve got a special gift for Autismland readers:

Jenny Herman wants to live in a world where dark chocolate dispensers reside on every corner. As a homeschooling special needs mom, she’s been featured in Autism Parenting Magazine, Wit and Wisdom from the Parents of Special Needs Kids: Mostly True Stories of Life on the Spectrum, and various blogs. If she survives the onslaught of testosterone in her home, she may take a moment to blog, read a book, try a new recipe, or loom knit a gift. You can find Jenny’s book The Power of One: Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life at Amazon. Discover her tips for special needs parenting, hands-on homeschooling, and pressing on at jennyherman.com.

About Us

Call me Penny, wife to Michael as well as mom to Logan who has autism and Madison who is pursuing a dance career.
Based on my own personal and often difficult experiences with autism, I hope to educate families of children with autism on how to navigate their world from pre diagnosis to adulthood.